Navy Engineering Innovation and Leadership (NEIL) training program for diverse STEM peer leaders. ONR White Paper Tracking Number 20-000000526
Abstract
Indiana University - Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) will establish the Navy Engineering Innovation and Leadership (NEIL) pro gram to develop engineering and computing student leaders versed in Navy-relevant engineering innovation, with special attention to the Navy priority areas of operational endurance and of sensing and sense-making, and to female and underrepresented students. This program will integrate together the many capabilities of IUPUI and will partner with the Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) at Cra ne to deliver an innovative approach to developing the next generation of engineering and computing student leaders. NEIL will also support faculty-led research in STEM learning and student preparedness for Navy and defense industry careers.IUPUI is an innovativ e urban campus ranked in 2020 in the US Top 50 for undergraduate teaching. IUPUI has overcome tremendous odds to improve its retenti on and graduation rates, becoming recognized for leadership in assessment and innovations, for its first-year experiences and learni ng communities, for efforts to help veterans and active-duty service members, and for its enunciation of expectations for college le arning. It established the STEM Education Innovation and Research Institute with discipline-based researchers and faculty working to inform and reform STEM education. The program will be implemented by IUPUI s Purdue School of Engineering and Technology (PSET).N ationally, barely half of all engineering students graduate in 6 years, with minority students taking even longer a loss of sorely needed talent and opportunities for a good life. By researching underlying factors and best practices, the PSET has contributed to IUPUIs graduation progress and to the nations need to produce diverse, competent, and innovative STEM leaders. PSET has won feder al grants and has created special programs to attract under-represented students, i.e., women, minorities, and veterans, and to impr ove STEM learning for all. PSET provides undergraduates with peer mentoring and learning communities and with opportunities for peer leadership, undergraduate research, and career development. For example, PSET hires high achieving undergraduates to assist in teac hing challenging subject matter using the Peer-Led Team Learning (PLTL) approach, including leadership coaching of peer mentors. PSE T founded the now campus-wide Multidisciplinary Undergraduate Research Institute, which pays and trains students for research. PSET arshi rs in engineering courses or for specific student groups, to help peers with STEM learning and college graduation challenges, (b) pe rform research in PSET laboratories or work as interns at NSWC or defense related industry, focused on Navy-priority areas (c) recei ve focused peer leadership training, (d) receive career mentorship with NSWC Crane and regional industry partners, and (e) share NEI L experiences in the schools diversity-outreach programs. PSET will transform as an institution, expanding PLTL and peer mentoring to accelerate college completion for diverse engineering students with promise as future Navy leaders in engineering and computing. The Navy and NSWC Crane, already among the top three employers of recent PSET graduates, will gain an even larger pool of innovativ e and entrepreneurial Purdue engineering and computing majors. Faculty will research student gains in knowledge of Navy careers, STE M learning improvement, and leadership and innovation skill development. Project outcomes will be closely evaluated by an expert eva luator, and findings will be disseminated nationally in the academic and Navy-STEM communities.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Aug 20, 2021
- Source ID
- N000142112691
Entities
People
- Razi Nalim
Organizations
- Indiana University
- Office of Naval Research
- United States Navy